Scholars and Outlaws
by lyviel
Summary: Kath hasn't exactly lived a life free of crime, so it isn't particularly surprising when he finds himself shipped off to Fort Joy. At least it led him to meeting Ifan Ben-Mezd. This'll be short one-shots in no particular order of my godwoken and Ifan. Mostly fluff. Rating for mentions of recreational drug use
1. Undertavern

The Driftwood Undertavern. It was nice, coming across like-minded people and a place they could feel so at ease in. Places like these were so familiar and always felt like coming home. Well, what Kath imagined coming home would feel like at least. He never did have much experience with that sort of thing.

He and Ifan had nearly shared their first kiss here so that certainly gave it more meaning. This place was still the most comfortable they'd felt in a long while and they'd taken to spending quite a bit of time here together when possible. Kath was leaning lazily against Ifan, his eyes half closed as they passed the drudanae pipe back and forth.

"I have to say," Kath said after a long companionable silence. "It's nice seeing you so relaxed."

"Aren't I always relaxed?" Ifan asked, eyebrow raised.

"You're usually all broody, although I guess it just makes it more amusing when you start poking fun."

"I'm not broody," Ifan objected, nudging him slightly. "You just think everyone's broody who's not as ridiculous as you."

"Rude," Kath said, not even bothering to hide his grin as he snatched the pipe back from Ifan. "You're lucky you're cute."

"Cute, eh?"

Ifan took him by surprise when he tilted Kath's head in his direction so he could lean down and capture his lips in a quick kiss. It was distressingly short and they both blushed, turning back towards the fire quickly to avoid making eye contact. Thankfully the room didn't break out into cheering again. It seemed no one was watching them. Ifan took the pipe back and took a large drag of it. This entire thing was silly. They'd kissed a few times before and Kath was tired of letting it reduce him to a blushing mess. Although it was adorable seeing Ifan like this.

"This is ridiculous," he said, making up his mind. What was the point if they didn't take a little advantage if their brief moments alone together?

"What-"

Before he could finish, Kath swung around so he was straddling Ifan's lap and kissed him. Deeply. He threaded his fingers through Ifan's long hair, enjoying how surprisingly soft it was even as his beard scraped roughly against his neck as Ifan kissed lower. Kath pulled at him needily, biting at his ear gently, and it wasn't until a quiet sound escapes his lips that they both seemed to remember they were still in public. Ifan pulled back quickly, turning an even brighter shade of red, and Kath couldn't help but grin at him as he slid off his lap.

"Perhaps we should continue this later," Ifan suggested, distracting himself with the pipe again.

"Forgetting yourself, are you? I'll take that as a compliment." Kath settled himself more comfortably against Ifan and took the pipe when it was offered to him. "But really, it's about time we did that again."

"Yeah," Ifan said, finding Kath's hand and weaving their fingers together, bringing his hand briefly to his lips. "Hopefully we won't have to wait until everyone in the area is high on drudanae to get some more privacy."

"Hey, I'm willing to resort to sorcery if necessary," Kath said, winking at him.

"Flattering, if a little desperate. Let's not go that far just yet. I'm sure there's a more sensible solution. Not that you'd know anything about sensible."

"Shut up and give me the pipe," Kath said with a little laugh, feeling happier and more at peace than he had is so long.


	2. Shopping

"What about this?" Kath asked excitedly, stopping to pick up an enchanted dagger that was on display at a stall they were passing.

"I thought you wanted to try using wands for a change?" Ifan asked, barely stopping long enough to see what he'd found. "Besides, that's not what we're here for."

"I know," Kath said dejectedly, putting it back down as Ifan urged him on. "But this is more fun than just buying supplies."

"If _someone_ ," Ifan said, glancing pointedly at Kath, "hadn't spent all our money on spell books, maybe we'd be able to get more weapons. As it is, we can barely afford food."

"Spoil sport," Kath muttered under is breath.

"Cute," Ifan said, deadpan, his teeth flashing in a grin as he wrapped an arm around Kath's shoulders. "You're lucky I brought you along at all. Honestly I'm surprised you haven't gotten us banned from every market on the continent."

"I spent our money on fun stuff and get into a fight once and suddenly I can't be trusted," Kath grumbled, kicking at the dusty street as they walked.

"More than once," Ifan pointed out.

"At least I keep your life interesting. You know you love me," Kath said, shooting a grin his way and bumping into him a little.

"Why I do is beyond me," Ifan laughed as he tugged Kath closer and kissed his temple. "Just please don't get yourself accused of stealing again. How is it you're the shady one between the two of us?"

"Hmm, you do look kinda intimidating," Kath said, studying Ifan for a moment. "Maybe they're just too afraid to accuse you of anything."

"If you're trying to imply I should be the one to do the stealing, the answer is no."

"Of course not!" Kath said in mock offense. "I told you, it was an accident, I wasn't actually stealing anything."

"How is it the assassin has become the responsible one in this relationship?" Ifan asked to no one in particular, but there was a hint of a smile behind his beard and there was no mistaking the spark in his eyes.

"Don't worry, we'll work on that," Kath said. "Making you less responsible, I mean. I have no intention of stepping up."

"We're doomed to starve, aren't we?"

"Or get shivved in a back alley," Kath said cheerfully.

"Oh, well, that's fine then," Ifan said. "At least that I've some familiarity with."

"I sense a story behind that," Kath said excitedly.

"What, have you never been stabbed in an alley before? I find that hard to believe."

"If I've done my job right, I'm well out of town before anyone wants to do any stabbing," Kath said.

"And all your jobs always go so seamlessly," Ifan said sarcastically.

"Fine, fine, no need to rub it in," Kath said, but he was smiling as well. "We'll have to swap stories later. For now, I want to take a look at that!"

He slipped out from under Ifan's arm to run over to another stall decidedly not full of food. Instead it was displaying all sorts of books and spells. Kath ignored his exasperated sigh but it seemed Ifan was at least humoring him, moving to stand at his side, arm around him again as Kath flipped through books, lighting up like he'd found the greatest treasure in all their adventures.

"You are insufferable," Ifan said, chuckling as he kissed Kath's cheek.


	3. Chapter 3

Abandoned libraries. You'd think there'd only be so many out there, but they kept stumbling across them in their travels and honestly it was kind of impressive at this point. Apparently Kath had a knack for finding them. Not even the Nameless Isle was exempt it seemed. Sure Ifan could appreciate the uncovering of lost knowledge and all that, but they were still boring. At the moment, however, he couldn't bring himself to mind.

"An ancient library!" Kath exclaimed as they entered, pure joy and excitement on his face as he gazed around. "I feel right at home."

Ifan gave an exaggerated yawned of boredom. "Here we go."

To be honest, Kath's enthusiasm was infectious and Ifan couldn't help but smile, leaning against the doorway, arms crossed as he watched. Kath could be at this for hours if left to his own devices, possibly even days if given the opportunity. Normally Ifan might be annoyed at the prospect of having to wait, settling in and trying to find something to occupy his time and stave off boredom. Right now, though, he didn't want to take his eyes off Kath.

They'd been through so much lately and things only threatened to get worse. They were battle-weary and in need of a break anyway. But most of all, it was such a relief to see Kath like this. For as long as Ifan has known him, he'd been lighthearted and jovial; if Kath couldn't shirk his duties in this fight of gods and the Void, than he was at least determined to have as much fun as possible while on this quest. Unfortunately it seemed even he wasn't immune to the stress of it all and it was beginning to get to him. It felt unnatural, seeing him grow so quiet and grim, especially over the last few days.

No, this was so much better. Ifan had already sworn to follow him and while he wasn't exactly sure what else he could do other than lend his crossbow, if he could help get Kath through this before he lost himself to it he would. He wanted Kath to be able to be like this all the time, to be free of this overwhelming pressure and be able to make his own choices again.

As Kath finally settled down, surrounded by a pile of books he'd pulled off shelves, and began leafing through a particularly large tome, Ifan went to join him. He picked up a book and examined the cover as he sat at his side.

"Anything interesting this time?" he asked, tossing the book aside.

"Rude!" Kath said, grabbing up the poor book and examining its spine for damage. "They've all been interesting, you just don't appreciate a good book."

"Hey, I can appreciate a good book, these are just so dry."

"How dare you," Kath said in mock offense, bumping his shoulder into Ifan's and leaning against him.

"You better not be planning on bringing the entire library with us by the way," Ifan said, dropping his arm heavily across Kath's shoulders, squeezing affectionately. "I'm not gonna help you carry them this time. They're just so damn heavy."

"I hope you know," Kath said, twisting around so he could lay down with his head in Ifan's lap. "As soon as all this is over with, we're going back for all the books we had to leave behind."

If they survived. No, when they survived. All this doom and gloom really didn't fit well with either of them. So instead, Ifan gave a derisive snort both of them knew was fake and he ran his fingers gently through Kath's hair. Moments like these were so rare, he wanted to preserve it as long as he could. The fate of the world could wait a little longer, they deserved a rest.


	4. Chapter 4

Roost was dead. Along with so many Lone Wolves. That probably hadn't been all of them, right? There were probably others out on missions or under cover like Ifan's friend in Driftwood. Maybe that was just wishful thinking on Kath's part, though. He didn't want to think about the weight on Ifan's shoulders, knowing that he was the only one left, that he'd played a part in the death of all of his friends. He could just ask Ifan, but if he hadn't thought about it already, Kath didn't want to be the one to bring it to his attention. That was silly, of course Ifan must have thought of it.

Since leaving the Sawmill, he'd been quiet. Kath knew he should say something, but what? _Hey, sorry all your friends are dead because of me_. Yeah, that would go over great. So instead he said nothing. Like a coward. They set up camp far enough away that they couldn't smell smoke anymore and when Ifan excused himself to stand near the bank of the river, Kath decided it was time to suck it up and talk to him.

"So," he said, drawing out the word as he approached Ifan, who turned to look at him with his usual smile. "At least we know who wants us dead."

"Indeed," Ifan said, looking back out over the water.

"Hey, I'm, uh, sorry."

"For what?" Ifan asked, turning back to look at him looking amused of all things.

"Well, I mean," Kath said, tapping his hands together uncertainty. "It's kinda my fault you had to fight your own pack and all."

"Kath," Ifan said, still with the hint of a smile. "You realize I'm Godwoken too, right?"

"Well, yeah, but they didn't know that. They weren't after you."

"Yet."

"Look, my point is, Roost wanted to kill me and you stepped in front of me. And, you know, I just- thanks."

Ifan barked out a laugh and patted him heavily on his back. His hand came to rest on Kath's shoulder, pulling him closer and Kath couldn't help but feel a little relieved. It was cruel, but a part of him had worried Ifan might hate him for everything that had happened.

"I'm on your side," Ifan said after a long moment. "Until the end. You trusted me despite being a Lone Wolf, now let me return the favor."

"What? No, I didn't do anything," Kath said dismissively.

"I'm not an assassin anymore, I don't want to be that person any longer. I'll always remember my old pack fondly and perhaps I still have allies amongst them, but my new pack is here."

Kath was left speechless at that. It was a bit overwhelming, the trust Ifan was putting in him, and knowing he considered him is new family, but then, Kath couldn't deny that he felt the same. Still, couldn't let things get too serious.

"Whatever, dog boy," Kath said, giving him a shove.

Ifan laughed and hugged him a bit tighter. They both knew there was still much to come, but at least they'd be facing it together.


End file.
